Working Drummer

Latest Episodes:

046 – Matt Johnson: Committing to Your Vision, Teaching in the 21st Century, Focusing on Outcomes Jan 13, 2016

Show notes

Matt Johnson is a native of Southern California, where he still lives, plays and teaches. He is the drummer for the Tony Guerrero Quintet, which is also the backing band for actress and singer Jane Lynch. He is the director of drumset studies at Fullerton College in Orange County, where he created the “Digital Drumset Lab”, the largest drumset classroom of its kind.

In this interview, Matt talks about:

Getting his professional start at Disneyland

Playing multiple styles within one show

Choosing the right gear for the gig

Being an entertainer

Developing and executing a specific vision for your projects

Tailoring his teaching to a student’s goals

How creating personal relationships leads to professional work

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045 – Danny Young: From Broadway in New York to Nashville, Beyond The Gig, Touring with Nelson Jan 06, 2016

Show notes

Drummer Danny Young is my first interview of 2016. After an amazing 11 months on the road with the national tour of ‘Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You‘, Danny recently relocated back to Nashville where he has jumped into a variety of session work, and has also started working with a number of new and established artists in and out of town.

Prior to ‘We Will Rock You’, Danny was the drummer and drum book composer on the new Broadway bound show, ‘The Nutty Professor’; working with Jerry Lewis, Rupert Holmes and the late, great Marvin Hamlish. He also toured on Green Day’s ‘American Idiot‘, Mel Brooks ‘Young Frankenstein the Musical’, with the 80’s hair band Nelson, country artist Katie Armiger, The Platters, Derryl Perry, has made back-line appearances on NBC’s SMASH!, was the debut drummer of ‘Chicago’ and ‘Hairspray on the worlds largest cruise ships Oasis and Allure of the Seas and has many drum students. Danny has also made one time appearances with Shania Twain, Liza Minnelli, Ann Hampton Callaway, Lorna Luft, The Drifters, The Four Tops, Maureen McGovern, Andrea Clearfield and many more…

In addition to touring, Danny has also started a seminar with fellow drummer and friend, Danny Taylor, called ‘Beyond the Gig‘. The program focuses on the business, networking and promotion side of the music industry. By touching on topics that go beyond just “playing”, it offers students the knowledge and direction they need to be one step ahead of the game.

In this interview, Danny talks about:

Auditioning for Queen musical in front of Roger Taylor and Brian May

Playing Green Day musical while band members were on stage

Writing the drum book for Broadway show The Nutty Professor

Learning the music from the recordings

Not relying on charts alone

Being a music supervisor on cruise ships

Teaching others how to market themselves with “Beyond The Gig”

Applying large musical skill set to create work beyond drumming

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this interview was conducted January 2nd, 2016

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044 – Chuck Tilley: Drumming on TV, Playing in “House Bands”, Being a Pro – Always Dec 16, 2015

Show notes

Chuck Tilley has worked with many artists over the years including the great Felix Cavaliere from The Young Rascals, Richard Marx, Lee Greenwood and most recently the country super group Alabama as of five years ago. Chuck’s own band Six Wire, competed in a reality show called the next great American band back in 2007. The talent and the work ethic of the band was quickly recognized as an asset that the producers felt like they could use for future shows and projects. Some of these shows include “Nashville Star”, “Can You Duet”, “Next Superstar” as well as many live award shows. This is one of the many examples of Chuck’s experience as the drummer for a “house band”. Chuck also has a reoccurring role as the drummer for the character Rayna Jaymes played by actress Connie Britton in the hit TV series “Nashville”. Along with touring, Chuck rounds out his busy schedule by staying active in the Nashville recording scene.

In this podcast, Chuck Tilley talks about:

playing drums on live award shows

working in house bands

interpreting artists’ needs

juggling many gigs

Chuck uses:

Pearl drums

Zildjian cymbals

Evans drum heads

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This interview was conducted November 30th, 2015

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043 – Travis McNabb / Part 2: Better Than Ezra, Sugarland, Taking Every Gig Seriously Dec 09, 2015

Show notes

Tavis McNabb is perhaps best known as a longtime member of the band Better Than Ezra, although he has performed session and touring work with many acts during his career. Prior to joining Better Than Ezra in January 1996, McNabb toured with acts such as Vigilantes of Love, Beggars, and seminal Oregon-based punk rock band The Wipers.

In mid-2007, Travis became the full-time touring and recording drummer with Grammy-award winning Country/Bluegrass act Sugarland. After Sugarland decided to go on hiatus in 2012, Travis continued to stay busy touring and recording with many artists including Kristian Bush, Big and Rich, Gavin DeGraw most recently up and coming country artist Frankie Ballard.

Travis also runs his own home studio called Wood Hill Recording where he puts his years of recording and engineering experience to use. Travis is very comfortable in the studio and you can hear him on Jennifer Nettles‘ most recent single, “Sugar” that was produced by Dann Huff.

In this podcast, Travis talks about:

Watching Jim Keltner in the studio and learning

Leaving a good impression

Balancing and mixing yourself

Bring your vibe to the session

Tracking with producer Dann Huff

Taking every gig seriously

This interview was conducted November 24th, 2015

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042 – Travis McNabb / Part 1: Better Than Ezra, Sugarland, Mixing Yourself on the Kit Dec 02, 2015

Show notes

Travis McNabb is perhaps best known as a longtime member of the band Better Than Ezra, although he has performed session and touring work with many acts during his career. Prior to joining Better Than Ezra in January 1996, McNabb toured with acts such as Vigilantes of Love, Beggars, and seminal Oregon-based punk rock band The Wipers.

In this podcast, Travis talks about:

Long unique audition for Ezra

Being replaced in the studio and learning from it

Watching and learning from Kenny Aronoff in the studio

Bring your vibe to the session

The influence of New Orleans on his playing

Being prepared

Balancing and mixing yourself

This interview was conducted November 24th, 2015

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041 – Pat McDonald: Charlie Daniel’s Drummer, Fusion Chops in Country Music Nov 25, 2015

Show notes

Pat McDonald is best known as the drummer the legendary Charlie Daniels and has been touring and recording with Charlie for over 16 years. With around a 105 dates a year and many Grand Ole Opry dates, Pat stays very busy with Charlie.

When Pat moved to Nashville in 1997, he was at the forefront of a budding community of rock/fusion drummers that were showcasing their style and ability to “fuse” multiple styles in country music. Pat’s reputation as a monster drummer that brought this dynamic to the country world served him well in opening up many doors for him during his time in Nashville.

Pat has worked with many artists including Tanya Tucker, Victor Wooten, Leon Russell, Reese Wynans, Jimmy Hall, Kip Winger, Jim Horn and many others.

After attending Georgia Southern College, Pat attended Boston’s Berkley College of Music and while there studied with the legendary Gary Chaffee.

Pat will be one of the performers at the Nashville Drummer’s Jam 7 at the Exit In in Nashville December 14th, 2015. This NDJ7 will be a tribute to Alex Van Halen.

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This interview was recorded November 12th, 2015

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040 – Tucker Wilson: Finding His Own Voice in a Famous Musical Family, Knocking Out an Audition, Touring with Canaan Smith Nov 18, 2015

Show notes

Tucker Wilson is a true native of Nashville. Not only was he born and raised in the music city, both of his grandfathers were regular performers on the Grand Ole Opry and at 3 days old Tucker made his first visit to the Opry. With Ricky Skaggs as an uncle and relatives in legendary country vocal group, The Whites, Tucker was surrounded by music from the beginning. At 1 1/2 years old, his interest in drums was so evident that a year later, his parents bought him his first kit and he’s never looked back.

In spite of his family ties to the music business, Tucker seeks success in the music business honestly and on his own. Just out of high school, Tucker found his first touring gig with a struggling Christian/Country band that lead to work with a renowned gospel singer Guy Penrod. These early experiences provided a wealth of experiences that gave Tucker the professional skills that has carried him on to the next phase of his young professional life.

Most recently, Tucker has been the touring drummer with Mercury Artist, Canaan Smith. What was supposed to be a five song set to audition with, Tucker was accidentally given a full hour of music to learn for the audition with Canaan. This turned into an opportunity that Tucker took full advantage of to prove his abilities as a solid player and worthy tour mate.

Tucker will be one of the performers at The Nashville Drummer’s Jam 7 at the Exit In in Nashville December 14th, 2015. This NDJ7 will be a tribute to Alex Van Halen.

Tucker’s NDJ7 video interview

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This interview was conducted November 3rd 2015

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039 – Mark Poiesz: Personifying the Emotion of the Music, Being The New Guy on the Scene, Drumming for Tyler Farr Nov 12, 2015

Show notes

Even though Mark Poiesz is still considered the “new guy” in the Nashville music scene, it hasn’t kept him from gaining significant ground in the business. In the first 12 months of moving to Nashville, Mark went from working with Chuck Wicks to Lindsey Ell and is currently the touring drummer for country singer Tyler Farr.

When Mark made the move to Nashville in 2013 he quickly won the trust of a handful of people that became instrumental in Mark’s current success. This includes drummers Tom Hurst and Rich Redmond, guitarist Chris Nix and Jason Aldean’s band leader/bass player, Tully Kennedy.

Before his move, Mark attended The University of Miami and in his final year he performed with the Grammy nominated Concert Jazz Band. After college, Mark’s time in south Florida was spent as a busy session and touring musician working with rockers Ghost of Gloria and touring with pop icon Jon Secada.

The philosophy behind Mark’s high energy performance is tapping into the emotional pulse of the artist and personifying the emotion of the music and tying it together with the other musicians on stage.

Mark will be participating in the Nashville Drummer’s Jam 7 December 14th in Nashville at the Exit In. This NDJ will be a tribute to Alex Van Halen.

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This interview was conducted October 29th, 2015

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038 – Sean Fuller: Florida Georgia Line, Self Expression as a Sideman, Creating a Vibe Nov 05, 2015

Show notes

Sean Fuller is best known as the drummer for the country pop duo Florida Georgia Line. This gig with FGL has been a great fit for the group and Sean as well. Sean is encouraged to express his style with FGL through his high energy playing as well as his massive Tommy Aldridge style kits. This complementary arrangement between artist and drummer helps to fulfill Sean’s desire to be much more than just a “sideman”.

Originally from Evansville Indiana, Sean made the move to Nashville in 1997 in search of greater musical opportunities. Even though he had almost zero contacts in town, Sean learned how to use networking skills to establish himself within the music community. The time that he put into pounding the pavement and creating a vibe eventually lead to impressive and long lasting road gigs with Luke Bryan and Justin Moore.

Most recently, Sean has started conducting drum clinics and it has become one of the ways Sean continues to find new ways of self expression.

You can also, catch Sean December 14th at the Exit In in Nashville as one of the many great drummers playing in the Nashville Drummer’s Jam 7. This NDJ7 is a tribute to Alex Van Halen.

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social media – instagram: @sfuller1234

twitter: seanfullerrocks

facebook.com/seanfullerrocks

www.bethebeastbrand.com

This interview was conducted October 28th, 2015

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037 – Dr. Preston Wakefield: Treating Repetitive Stress Injuries in Drummers, Active Release Techniques, Proper Stretching Oct 29, 2015

Show notes

Dr Preston Wakefield is a well known chiropractor in Nashville and is known throughout the music community as the go to guy for sound advice as well as quick and noticeable results when musicians are suffering from injuries associated with being professional player. Although most of his patients are athletes, around 20% of Preston’s patients are musicians.

Preston uses “Active Release Techniques” to help guitar players, bass players and drummers overcome repetitive stress injuries often associated with these instruments.

It’s not uncommon for Dr Wakefield to pull out a pair of sticks and a practice pad and observe your technique in order to help diagnose your issues. Preston stresses the benefits of proper posture, stretching and warming up.

Spend time with Dr Preston Wakefield and you’ll have a rudimentary understanding of things like “peripheral nerve entrapment”, “carpal tunnel” and “tendonitis”. He will teach you how recognize these issues and treat yourself so you can keep working.

Click here for pictures of the stretches that were discussed in this podcast

This interview was conducted October 24th 2015

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